Celia (TV series)

Production

After the "Celia" books by Elena Fortún had been brought to his attention by Spanish author and screenwriter Carmen Martín Gaite, director and producer José Luis Borau insisted on together creating a television adaptation of Fortún's works; Gaite wasn't convinced easily and was not sure the project would work. When the project was finally green-lit by Televisión Española, a search was begun for the right seven-year-old girl to play the title role of Celia; The then inexperienced Cristina Cruz Mínguez was chosen out of over 2,000 girls that had auditioned for the part, though some sources indicate an approximate of 3,000 girls. Many of the girls not chosen to play the title role were instead cast as other important and less important girls in the series, such as María Teresa, Celia's friend. A television documentary was produced and entitled "Buscando a Celia" ("Searching for Celia"), which showed the odyssey of finding the right "Celia"; the documentary contained brief interviewes with many different girls and some of their parents as well. When broadcast, the short documentary served as effective publicity for the upcoming series.

Director José Luis Borau stated during the premiere ceremony of the series, that he had had two reasons for his production: One, to pay homage to Elena Fortún, whom he described as one of the most important authors the children of Spain possibly ever had; and two, to give the children of Spain 'the best'. — "The children", he said, "must be given the best. We mustn't take advantage of them, we mustn't trick them, we mustn't give them just anything. Because they deserve the best." — For her part, award-winning author Carmen Martín Gaite stated her amazement at young actress Cristina Cruz Mínguez's professional behaviour during the filming of the series. — "I remember one scene", she said, "that was filmed very late at night in a circus close to El Escorial, and I didn't hear this girl complain one single time. She didn't ask where her mother was or anything." — During the last minutes, the microphone was handed to Mínguez herself and was allowed to say a few words. She took the opportunity to thank Gaite and Borau for their help during the production of Celia.

Theme song

The series' theme song, composed by the Spanish duet Vainica Doble, does not have an official name, but it is often referred to as "Celia" or "Hay en Madrid una niña" ("There is in Madrid a girl"); its basic lyrics and music are based on the classic Spanish playground song, "En Cádiz hay una niña" (In Cádiz there is a girl"). Though the song is naturally sung in Spanish, there are brief instances of English and Latin; the English line, "Be quiet, you are a naughty girl!" is presumably sung by the character of Miss Nelly, the English governess. The complete series' opening is a montage of drawings of Celia by one of the original illustrators of the novels, Francisco Molina Gallent.

Cast

Plot

Celia is a seven-year-old girl living with her family in her home located in a street, la Calle Serrano, in Madrid, Spain. Celia has a way of questioning everything around her, in a way of childish innocence, as well as ingenuity; she wonders about the identity of the Three Wise Men, for instance, and the strange ideas and thoughts that adults tend to say. Celia's mother and father have little time to spend with their daughter; she is away visiting friends or out shopping and often comes home very late at night, living Celia in charge of Miss Nelly, the English governess, while he is busy attending to his work in his office. Celia is not allowed to play much with her little brother "Baby", whom she names "Cuchifritín", because he is too small and fragile, but spends time with other playmates such as Solita, the porter's daughter and María Teresa, another girl her age. While under the care of Miss Nelly, whom Celia cannot stand, or Juana, the maid, Celia often finds ways to get into all sorts of scrapes, though mostly unintentionally. Eventually, feeling insulted and humiliated, Miss Nelly returns to England, and Celia's mother calls upon an elderly woman, Doña Benita, to look after the girl. It turns out however, that Doña Benita's imagination is as wild and innocent as Celia's and the two become very close. Celia is entralled by Doña Benita's fantastic stories about fairies and demons, and all sorts of odd beliefs and superstitions. Following an eventful summer at the beach and the Spanish countryside, Celia's mother, with some help from her sister-in-law Julia, convinces her husband to have the girl sent off to a convent, where they hope she'll learn discipline and good behaviour. Once at the school with the nuns, Celia continues to make mischief and form many chaotic events at the convent, often with the help of other girls.

Gálvez Family

Household workers

Media information

Since its original television debut in 1992, Celia remains a popular series and has been aired on Televisión Española numerous times. Often broadcast in black and white in order to give the series a more nostalgic value fit of the story's time setting of the 1930s, the series would be shown one episode a day during a period of six days, usually beginning on a Monday.

In 1993, the distributor Editorial América Ibérica released the series for the first time on home video. The six different episodes were sold individually in a colorful collection entitled "El mundo de Celia" ("The World of Celia"), and each was packed together with a reprint of Elena Fortún's first six "Celia" novels: Celia, lo que dice (1929) was included with the first episode of the series, "Soy Celia", Celia en el colegio (1932) with the second, "Doña Benita", Celia novelista (1934) with "El verano", Celia en el mundo (1934) with "En el colegio", Celia y sus amigos (1935) with "Ni santa, ni mártir" and Celia madrecita (1939) with "¡Hasta la vista!"; Editorial América Ibérica did not produce reprints of the remaining Celia novels. These VHS and book sets would be sold primarily at Kioscos and local bookstores as opposed to large video stores.

In 2001, distributor Divisa Home Video released the series on Region 2 DVD format as part of their extensive "Series clásicas" ("Classic series") collection that offered a wide variety of classic Spanish television series, mostly for older audiences. All six episodes were released together in one single 3-disc pack, complete with two audio options, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 or Stereo, subtitles in English, German, French, Italian and Portuguese, and extra features including the "Buscando a Celia" 1992 featurette. A 2-disc re-release of the pack (three episodes per disc) also featured the "Celia: La premiere" documentary not included in the first release. Divisa Home Video also released this collection on VHS, but was discontinued along with the entire format shortly afterwards.

Reception

In 1993, Celia was awarded the TP de Oro for Best Dramatic National Series in Spain. The TP de Oro is considered one of the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious, awards given to television programs and actors in the country.